True Fearlessness
When you have steady faith and an integral vision, and when you constantly think of the indwelling divinity, you will not become elated by joy nor shrink away from sorrow. It is only then that you will become completely fearless. Fearlessness does not mean the absence of fear. True fearlessness completely transcends fear. It is altogether different and much higher than the mere removal of fear. The latter is a momentary experience; it comes and it goes. For example, if you happen to see a rope lying on the ground after dusk, you might think, in the failing light, that it was a snake. Fearing that the snake might harm you, you would switch on your flashlight to get a better look at it and see if it is a poisonous snake. But as soon as the light shines on it you realize that it is not a snake at all but a piece of rope, and with this realization your fear disappears instantly. Here you were subjected to fear and then you became free of fear; both were just transitory experiences.
Fear is only a delusion created by the mind; lack of fear is also a delusion created by the mind. Mistaking one thing for another leads to fear; recognizing the mistake and rectifying it leads to the removal of that fear. But, true fearlessness is not associated with these two at all. Fearlessness is a permanent state where there is no question of ever experiencing any fear. When you are imbued with fearlessness you are continuously aware of your own reality. At that point, it would be impossible for you to become subject to fear. You should not consider this quality of fearlessness as just the absence of fear. When you are truly fearless you will not be aware of any second entity, at all. You can have fear only when there exists a second object who evokes the fear in you. But, fearlessness is always associated with unity consciousness. It refers to non-duality, where there can be no two but always just one. Only in the state of non-duality will you be truly fearless.
When you forget your true self you will suffer from fear. When you remember only the world and not God, you will suffer from fear. When you are filled with desires and attachments, you will suffer from fear. When you are deluded by objects, you will suffer from fear. On the other hand, when you are immersed in the transcendental reality, you will be totally free from fear; you will never be afraid of anything. Then you will be truly fearless.
Krishna said, "Arjuna, there is only one thing you will have to develop. You need not develop further your vision of the phenomenal world; nor do you need to further develop your mind. You need only to develop the vision of the one existing everywhere in everyone. If you know it, and if you remember it, then you will not be subject to this constant cycling between fear and its removal. So long as you have the deluded perspective that the world is real and made up of separate objects, your vision will be clouded and you will be subject to fear. But when you recognize the truth of the unity of the whole creation, you will be forever fearless. A person like you should become wise and never again experience fear."
